Process of volatilizing ores.



S. l. CLAWSON.

PROCESS 0F VOLATILIZINC ORES.

APPucATloN FILED MAY24.191|.

1,169,530.' Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

PATE enteren.

SELDEN IRWIN CLAWSOBT, 0F SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

PROCESS OF VOLATILIZING DRES.

incasso.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented dan. 25, 1916.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SELDEN I. C LawsoN, a citizen of the United States, resldlng at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake, State of Utah, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements in Processes of Volatilizing Ores, of which the followlng is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the figures of reference marked thereon.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in the treatment of ores by the process known as volat1l1zat1on.

It is common in the art to use a1r as a carrier by which the volatile compounds are taken to a fume arrester or condenser Where .they are separated from the carrier and the carrier air passes ofi' to the atmosphere. It will be readily understood that by thls Vmethod all the volatile compounds which are not caught by the fume arrester, pass of into the air and are lost.

An object of the present invention is to provide a process which will reduce to a minimum this loss in the volatile compounds passing ol" to the outer air.

The invention consists generally in providing a carrier gas which is used over and over again so that any of the volatile compounds which are not separated by the fume arrester, are brought back again to the chamber where the ore is volatilized, where it unites with more of the volatile compounds and passes on again to the arrester.

In the drawings, the figure shows more or Aless diagrammatically an apparatus for carrying out my improved process.

The apparatus consists of a closed chamber 1, which may be of any desired construction commonly used .in the volatilizing of ores. The raw ores arev pulverized and placed in said chamber. A pipe 2 leads into the chamber and serves as a means. for supplying said chamber with any suitable halogen gas andthe necessary conditions are brought about to produce volatilization of the ores in the manner well understood in this artfy A pipe 3 leads from the chamber 1 to a fume arrester or condenser 4, which may, be Aof any desired type. As herein shown, said condenser consists of a receptacle partially filled with water which is continually agitated by any suitable mechanical means. The pipe 3 extends into-the lower part of the receptacle so that any gases or fumes passing through the pipe 3 will be led into the fume arrester beneath the surface of the Water therein. This fume arrester however, differs from any of the well known fume arresters, in that it is completely closed so that the gases passing into thesame may be collected and led through a plpe 5 which enters the receptacle of the fume arrester near the upper end thereof. The plpe 5 is connected to a pipe 2, by a mlxing chamber 6. The mixing chamber 6 1s also connected through a pipe 7 to any sultable means for supplying the halogen gas whlch is to be used in connection with the volatilization of the ores.

In the carrying out of my process, the system or apparatus is provided with a certain amount of carrier gas which may be of any desired characterl which does not act upon the ores, such for example as nitrogen gas. T he h alogen gas passing through the plpe 7 1s mlxed with the carrier gas in the chamber 6, and passing through the pipe 2 is led to the chamber 1, where the ores are volatilized and the carrier gas absorbs the volatile compounds which are taken up thereby and conveyed by the carrier gas through the pipe 3 into the fume arrester or condenser.

As the carrier gas passes up through the water of the condenser, a part of the volatile compounds will be caught in the condenser. It is impossible however, to separate all of the volatile compounds from the carrier gas. Whatever compounds remain inthe carrier gas, Will pass along with the same through the pipe 5 into the mixing chamber where further halogen gas is mixed with the carrier gas and the carrier gas continues its travel through the pipe 2 into the chamber 1. It will thus be seen that I have provided a complete cycle for the carriergas which is used over and over again so that any volatile compounds which are not separated from the carrier gas on the first passing through of the fume arrester or condenser will be brought back again to the volatilization chamber where said uncaught portions will unite with more of the volatile compounds and pass again to the fume arrester or condenser.

Instead of using a halogengas to produce the volatile conditions of the ore, it is obvious that a ux could be used for the same purpose in'which case' of course, the pipe 7 could be omitted and the carrier gas would` 1; comfpounds to the fume arrester.

. a halogen gas is used instead of a flux, it will be obvious that any surplus of the halogen gas or gases would pass along with the carrier gas or gases to the condenser or o arrester, and'thence would be returned with the carrier gases to the presenceY of the ore. This lwould avoid all possible loss of the halogen gas with which the crushed ore is being treated. Furthermore, it is obvious that instead of using a nitrogen gas or gases which do not attack the ore, a surplus of halogen gas or gases could be used as a carrier, and therefore, it is to be distinctly v understood that I do not limit myself to any 2'5 particular gas or gases as acarrier, neither do .I limit myself to any particular method of volatilizing the ores, the essential features vbeing the substantially closed volatilization chamber with the substantially closed fume arrester or condenser, and the connecting 'pipes forming the system wherein the carrier gas whatever may be its character passes through the volatilization chamber, vthence through the condenser and back again to -the volat'ilization chamber, and so on in a continuous cycle. Y

` It may be stated by way of illustration, that a cubic foot of nitrogen gas when fully saturated, will carry two ounces of volatile 40 compounds. If therefore, two liters of halogen gas and one hundred liters of a carrier gas are passed into the volatilization chamber, and the two liters of halogen gas are chemically taken up by the metal in the ore in thelfurnace, the one hundred liters of carrier gas absorb thivolatile halogen compounds formed by' the two liters of halogen gas, and are conveyed through the` 'i carrier gas to the fume arrester. Let us supl pose that the volatile compounds represented by one ,liter of halogen'gas are caught by the fume arrester, then the carrier gas with the other halogen compounds represented by one liter of halogen gas, will pass on to the mixing lchamber at which point one liter of halogen gas is added to the carrier gas and the volatile halogen compounds uncaught by the arrester and pass into the furnace or volatilization chamber. This last named one-liter of halogen gas will be chemically taken up by the ore, and the carrier gas which already contains the halogen compounds represented by one liter of halogen gas, absorbs thev newly formed volatile compounds and passes to the fume arincasso rester, and thus it will be seen that this carrier gas is reused. If the fume arrester .caught all or substantially all of the volatile compounds, an increased amount of halogen gas would be added to the mixing chamber. If all of the halogen gas did not chemically combine with the metals in the furnace, then a decreased amount of halogen gas would be added to the mixing chamer.

B the proper regulating of the supply of the alogen gas, it will be obvious that ceru gases or the carrier gas or gases to escape from the ,apparatus ory system, there will be no loss of the volatile compounds vand the process may be continued until the finishing of the treatment of the ore.

As above noted the ore could'be iiuxed to produce the halogen gas necessary for the volatilization of the metals or the oreA could be fluxed in place of part of the halogen gas, A and the remainingv part could be supplied at the mixing chamber. A simpleV condenser baghouse electrostatic liquid or any kind of an arrester could be used.- Furthermore, any kind of a furnace may be used which would not interfere with the reuse of the carrier. l

In order'to circulatel the carrier gas and regulate the pressure thereof, mechanical means may be employed. Furthermore,

lleakage loss of gases may be'overcome by attaching a fume arrester in the circuit, exy hausting some of the carrier gases, thus causing ingress of air at defective points.

Having thus particularly described my invention, what I claim -as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A process for the removing of the volatile compounds or metals in a volatilization extraction which consists in associating a. carrier gas or gases with ore to absorb and convey the volatile compounds or metals to 1115 their proper place and extract part or all of the compounds and return the carrier gases to the presence oftheore for re-use.

2. A process for the removing of the volatile compounds or metals in a volatilization extraction, which consists in the volatilization of the metals in ore in a closed chamber passing a carrier gas through said chamber, whereby thenvolatile compounds may be absorbed thereby, passing the carrier gas with" the volatile compounds therein` to a closed fume arrester, wherein a" part or all of the volatile compounds are arrested, and passing the carrier, gas with any uncaught volatile compounds from the fume arrester back 13 again to the volatilization chamber, whereby said carrier gas maybe re-used as a eonveyer for the volatile compounds.

3. A process for thelremov'ing of the volatile compounds or metals in a volatilization extraction, which consists in passing nitrogen gas and a halogen gasr into a closed heated chamber containing the crushed ore to be Volatilized, wherein said ore is chemi cally acted upon by the halogen gas and the Volatile compounds formed absorbed by the nitrogen gas, passing the nitrogen gas with the volatile compounds therein to a closed fume arrester wherein a greater portion of the Volatile compounds are separated from the nitrogen gas, passing the nitrogen gas with the remaining Volatile compounds therein to a mixing chamber and 1 applying said mixing chamber with additional halogen gas and passing the mixed gr from the mixing chamber to said closed Volatilization chamber.

In testimony whereof li affix my signature, in presence or' two witnesses. SELDEN lRWIN CLAWSON. Witnesses:

JAMES R. VENABLE, 'Mrs H. BERGQUIST. 

